Historic photos show the small but fascinating town of Occidental

It may be only 5 square miles in size, but Occidental has a long and fascinating history.

Founded in 1876 as a stop on the North Pacific Coast Railroad, the town was originally called Howards or Howard’s Station after “Dutch Bill” Howard the pioneer landowner who provided the right of way to the railroad.

But Howard wasn’t his real name and he wasn’t even Dutch. Born Christopher Falkmann in Denmark, the young sailor joined the Navy at age 13 and sailed to the San Francisco Bay aboard a sloop of war in 1848. Hearing of the riches to be earned in California, he deserted with two other sailors and hid in a logjam before making his way to the Sierra to strike it rich in gold. The other sailors were captured, but Falkmann escaped, taking the name William Howard, the captain he served under in the Navy.

Falkmann, now Howard, made a fortune in gold but lost most of it in cattle speculation. He took the rest of his earnings and purchased a small portion of land in the forest near future Occidental.

When the North Pacific Coast Railroad rolled into town in the 1870s, they were granted a right of way from Howard in exchange for a lifetime of free rides on the train.

Lumber industry pioneer Melvin Cyrus “Boss” Meeker bought the land next to Howard’s Station and laid out the grid pattern village that eventually merged with Howard’s to become present-day Occidental.

The town grew up around logging. In the late 1800s, there were six sawmills around Occidental including Meeker’s steam-powered mill. A wave of Italian immigrants arrived in the 1880s who provided labor for the timber industry, coal mines and farms. Many of these families still live in the area today.

For more photos of Occidental back in the day, view our gallery at pressdemocrat.com.

Janet Balicki Weber